The powerhouse producer — who defined an entire era of rap crafting albums by Jpegmafia, Denzel Curry, Vince Staples, Rico Nasty and more — is entering a new chapter by going back to the name he was born with.
“I named myself Kenny Beats at 15 years old for MySpace — because my name was Kenny and I made beats — and it kind of just stuck,” Blume tells
Variety over Zoom from his L.A. studio. “And whenever I get a Grammy nomination as Kenny Beats, there’s times where in my heart I’m just like, ‘But my last name is Blume.'”
One of his first credits as Kenneth Blume is as the composer and curator behind the music of “
Lurker,” Alex Russell’s tense debut film that follows Matthew (Théodore Pellerin), a shy retail worker who will do anything to break into the inner circle of Oliver (Archie Madekwe), an artist on the brink of stardom. The psychological drama, which was a hit at Sundance and went on to play Berlin Film Festival before premiering in theaters on Friday, features a score and original songs from Blume alongside collaborators like Dijon and Rex Orange County.
“To be honest, ‘Lurker’ has been a big part of me deciding to use my real name,” Blume says. “Being at Sundance and seeing my government come up on the screen was a very different feeling.”
Let’s start with your name — you recently decided to retire the Kenny Beats moniker and go by your real name, Kenneth Blume. What’s behind this change?
I’ve been Kenny Beats for 20 years and I’m starting to not feel like it; I’m starting to feel like Kenneth Instrumentals or something now. So just being my real name feels safe from here on forward, you know? It’s time. I hope I didn’t make everyone feel like they have to call me Kenneth, though. I still want people to call me Kenny, but I think if I’m going to use my real name I have to use the whole thing.
